Metamorphosis Is Not Easy

It was just ten days ago when I chose the Monarch Butterflies over green beans.  Today was sunny and hot.  There was no doubt that a butterfly was inside this chrysalis this morning.  I found this quite exciting.  Not every Monarch makes it this far.  When I checked back just before lunchtime the butterfly was gone and the chrysalis was empty.  I saw no sign of an orange and black butterfly anywhere near the green beans. That is probably great news for this butterfly.  Ed did point out another green chrysalis on one of the bean plants so the saga continues.

In another part of the garden I passed by two newly hatched Monarchs on the white asters.  They surely are bright and beautiful when they are newly hatched.

 Sometime later when I returned, one of the Monarchs was gone.  The butterfly that remained had a fold on the edge of her right upper wing.  Her left wing did not pump up properly.  It is good to remember that not all eggs get to hatch, not all caterpillars get to be butterflies and not all Monarchs get to migrate. 

There are still some beautiful flowers in the garden. This pink phlox is fragrant and lovely.  The really big excitement for today in the garden came when Ed called my attention to a black butterfly that was cruising around the garden.  I was the lucky one because I was wishing to get a better look to identify the butterfly and it flew over and sat for perhaps ten seconds with its wings open on a flower right in front of me.  It was a black and blue butterfly.  I know that doesn't sound very pretty, but the upper wings of the butterfly were black and the lower ones were bright blue when they caught the sunlight.  When I came inside and checked my butterfly book I was almost certain that this was a Pipevine Swallowtail.  Most of the blue butterflies around here are tiny.  I love to see them but this butterfly was the size of a Monarch or perhaps even a bit bigger.  I was totally captivated.  Now I will be looking for a place to get a native Pipevine.  Yes it is true that we are just north of  the Pipevine swallowtail's range but I saw one and I want more.  I will dream tonight of big beautiful black and blue butterflies in next years garden. 

Still In The Pink

Although most of the flowers are gone in the garden, here and there some of my favorite  flowers are still in the pink.  My Sedum sieboldi that grows on top of Ed's wall is pink all over.  The same plant in other places have pink flowers, but the leaves are still green with a reddish edge.  They will change soon too.  I bought the first of these plants at Caprilands in 1993. All the others have come from that one.  It was just today with this plant at nose level that I discovered it has a spectacular fragrance. Just watch out for the bees!

This pink phlox is blooming underneath the smoke bush.  Apparently the frost has not yet found it there.  My white phlox has been gone for some time.

One or two of Ingeborg's striped mallow plants are still looking pretty.  One of them did lose its top to  a visiting deer.

Next to the stone wall this pink snapdragon still looks perfect!

With the warm weather we have been having one pink poppy  in the stone square is blooming.  It is a pleasant reminder of summer and one of my very favorite flowers.

A closer look reveals that this poppy is not the pale pink color that I try to maintain in the garden. Like the single poppies that appear in the garden, I usually pull the darker flowers as soon as I notice them to limit  their chance to pollinate.  It's necessary to maintain the  pale pink doubles that I love.  In this case I will let this plant stay.  It is the only poppy in the garden now and it won't cross pollinate with anybody!